


Yeah, he did, didn’t he.

by Dabberdees



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Birthday, Fluff, Gen, I'm Bad At Titles, It was Bradley Walsh's birthday on the fourth so I wrote this little thing for it, Ryan is a good grandson, There's like some angst but it's pretty fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-08 00:25:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19095991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dabberdees/pseuds/Dabberdees
Summary: After checking the date, Ryan realises that a specific day is coming up, one that he never bothered with before because all the previous times, Graham, was just the bloke who married his nan.But this time it's different, and he's damn sure he's gonna make it a day to remember for the man that proved himself worthy of the name 'Grandad'. Of course, he's got the added help of the Doctor and Yaz to make it extra special. Just have to stop Graham from finding out now.





	Yeah, he did, didn’t he.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rigele](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rigele/gifts), [HarlowNell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarlowNell/gifts), [Awesomeheatherd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awesomeheatherd/gifts).



> Gifted to some folkes who liked all my posts on tumblr.
> 
> And to Whovian--13 as well, but I didn't know if you had an A03.

Making the quick walk from the house and to the TARDIS was a lot harder than Ryan first thought it would be, what with Graham hovering around the house… and just generally being a thorn in his side and to his plans.

Giving one more look over his shoulder, half expecting to see his granddad dashing behind a bush. Although a ridiculous thought, it’s not totally out there. His nan had a hard enough time trying to surprise him, and Graham always managed to figure it out before the day.

That’s why he has to be covert and secretive. Satisfied that Graham isn’t hiding behind a wheelie bin, Ryan makes his entrance into the TARDIS, spotting Yaz and the Doctor chatting over tea and biscuits.

The Doctor looks up at Ryan and flashes him a huge grin. “Ello Ryan, thought you and Graham wanted a day together?” She frowns quickly, noticing Ryan’s tense body language. “Has something happened?”

Ryan stares back, confused for the most part. “No.. no, nothing happened.” Ryan looks around again, eventually deciding to step forward. He spots an unguarded biscuit on Yaz’ plate and makes a swift move, stealing it and biting into it in one motion.

Yaz shoots him an offended look. “Oi, get your own Ryan.” Ryan flashes her a smile and continues to eat the biscuit. “Why are you here this early anyway?”

“It’s Graham.”

Yaz furrows her brows, puzzlement clearly on her face. “I thought you said nothing was wrong.”

“There isn’t anything wrong,” Ryan replied, finishing off the biscuit and rubbing the crumbs of his hand. “It’s his birthday.”

The Doctor’s eyes light up as her body does an excited little hop towards him. “Today?”

Ryan shakes his head. “Nah, soon, couple of days.”

“How old will he be?” inquired Yaz, after taking a swig from her tea.

Ryan looks over to her. “He’ll be fifty-nine-

“Ah, Fifty-nine, such a young age, I remember it fondly.” The Doctor mentioned, off-handedly to a bemused Ryan and Yaz. “Right sorry, probably not the time.” She said with a scrunched face.” Continue Ryan.”

Ryan nods, deciding to move away from that. “Anyway, I wanted to do something for him, that’s why I’m here.”

“Like a surprise party?”

Ryan gives another swift shake of his head again. “He’ll figure that out, and he wouldn’t want that, he'll rather something just with us. That’s also the main issue I have. He’s a pain in the ass when it comes to his birthday, cause it drove my nan up the wall cause he’s impossible to buy for.” Ryan leans against the console, arms folded across his chest. “She would ask him what he wanted, and he would always shrug, or tell her that he wasn’t bothered about it.”

The Doctor takes a sip of her tea, brows creased in thought. “Why isn’t he bothered about it? Humans usually like celebrating their birthdays, don’t they?” She looks to Yaz. “Your Nani celebrated hers.”

“Some people don’t celebrate them for different reasons Doctor, perhaps Graham has his reasons.” Yaz turns to Ryan. “Do you know why, Ryan?”

Ryan shrugs. “I don’t know, and I never gave it much thought if I’m honest.” He looks down, hands steepled in front of him now. “I never got him anything, not even a card.” Ryan looks up again, seeing the expressions on the Doctor’s and Yaz’ faces. “Look, guys, a year ago, we didn’t have what we have now, a year ago he was just Graham, my nan’s new husband and a bloke who lived with us to me. That’s why I want to do something now, make up for the years I missed with him. Make up for the years I might have left with him.” He finished, voice trailing away by the end of it.

The Doctor’s expressions soften instantly, her hand reaching out and taking his hand, offering comfort to Ryan. “We’ll figure something out.”

Yaz nods as well, her mind trying to think of anything, and failing for the time being. “Well it’s June 2nd, we have until June 4th to think of something.”

“But we have to really hide it, cause he’ll figure it out,” added Ryan. “He’s observant.”

It’s at that moment that the TARDIS lets out a warning that only the Doctor can understand. She makes her way over to the display, eyes widening. “He’s on his way here.” The Doctor turns and looks into the central column, a smile on her face. “Thank you, old girl, for telling us.”

The doors to the old ship creak open, followed by Graham entering with a deep frown on his face. “Oh, I see how it is,” He points at Ryan, accusingly with a hint of suspicion. “Why did you escape the house this morning without saying anything to me?”

Ryan looks like a fish out of the water, his brain trying to think of any reason that would sound believable. “Yaz, uh, texted me, didn’t you?”

Yaz stares up at Ryan. “Um, yeah, I gave him a text Graham, asked him to pop round so we could talk about a possible school reunion for us.” lied Yaz quickly and scarily easy in Ryan’s opinion. “That was all.”

Graham nods, buying the lie for the time being. “Fair enough, I just thought I did something.” Shrugged Graham, walking further in and spotting the biscuits. “You got any digestives, Doc?”

The Doctor catches his gaze and leans over to reach the plate. “Help yourself.” With Graham distracted, she looks back at Ryan and Yaz, locking her gaze on each of them. Their quiet conversation going unnoticed by the man in question.

 

_Yaz’ Gift_

 

Yaz gave it some thought over the night and finally settled on her idea. She decided on a picture of them, framed… but it turns out scrolling through the different ones she’s taken on her phone would have people asking questions.

When she thinks she’s found one, she spots a floating island… or lilac grass and green skies.

“Do you need any help?” Asked a voice from behind her. “You’ve been flicking through different pictures for a while, some of them caught my eye.” Yaz turns quickly, eyes wide at the possibility of someone spotting them. The young woman walks forward, eyes locked onto the screen. “Are you a graphic design major? Cause some of these are so realistic.”

Yaz nods, relief flooded her body. “Yeah…”

The woman turns back round to Yaz, and she flicks her eyes down to the badge, learning her name. Lindsey. “What did you need the picture for?”

Yaz looks back to the screen again, perhaps Lindsey can help her. “The older man in my pictures, he’s my mates Grandad, the lad there, but he’s been there for me as well, and for the other woman in the picture.” The woman nods, listening intently to her reasonings. “It’s his birthday you see, and we’re all getting him presents that he doesn’t know about. I wanted to print one of these off for him and frame it,” explained Yaz, wondering if she needs to explain why it happens to be something that looks so alien. “He’s a big Sci-Fi nerd-” She lied, deciding that that’ll make the most sense. “-he’ll get a kick out of it if it looks like we all went to an alien world.”

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me, I’ve heard stranger... a lot stranger,” Lindsey divulged, face morphing into a grimace and then turning into a smile again. “Let’s see what we have then if that’s okay, you don’t mind me taking a look through them, do you?”

Yaz shakes her head. “Go ahead, you’re the expert here, I just... made them.”

Lindsey smiles again and turns her attention to the screen, flicking through them and talking about what makes each one great. How they frame each person beautifully, but the exact comment that brings a smile to her face is a simple. “You look like a great family.”

In the end, they spent a good hour together going over everything, but she’s happy with what she picked. Graham in the centre, his arm around both Ryan and Her, with the Doctor kneeling in front of them all and proudly showing off some fantastic coloured rocks and the strange insects moving across them. She remembered asking a local to take it, they looked perplexed at her camera but obliged.

Yaz says her thanks to Lindsey, the woman replying that the picture and frame will be ready for pick-up tomorrow morning. Turning from the shop now, Yaz pulls out her phone, dropping a text to Ryan and the Doc, who somehow, even without having a working phone, still manages to receive them.

“My gift is in the works, how are you getting on, Ryan?”

“ _Getting there,_ ” answered Ryan, which is an unusual reply for him, but he looked like a man on a mission when she saw him this morning. Probably busy.

She now sends the same text to the Doctor, her hand holding the phone out, knowing full well that the Doctor will respond immediately.

“ _Turned out trying to steal one of Graham’s jackets without him noticing was a lot harder than I first thought, but I got there in the end._ ”

“Wait! Why are you stealing his jacket, Doctor?” typed Yaz, quickly. There’s no response, and she considers heading straight for Graham’s house now to put a stop to whatever she has planned. Then again the Doctor looked just as thoughtful so perhaps whatever she has planned will be truly useful for Graham.

 

_Ryan’s Gift_

 

Currently, Ryan has an assortment of what could be classed as tat, or a last minute birthday gifts in anyone else’s opinion but to him, and hopefully to Graham, they’ll have a more significant meaning. He stares down at the basket, containing one mug with “Best Grandad” on it, a coaster with the same message, a few packs of biscuits, a pen with Grandad on it that he’s pretty sure will either not work at all or break within ten minutes.

He’s watched the youtube videos, he truly knows how crap these presents all are but the meaning behind them… that will be greater than the cost of them.

And anyway, it’s not like this is the only present he’s gonna get, Ryan thinks quickly, cause he has the trip they planned in the TARDIS... and the other one, the most important one.

Walking around the shop for a while longer, he comes to a section that he truthfully never bothered to look at. When your father generally isn’t very good at being a father, you never really feel inclined to get him a Father’s Day card or gift… and he still probably won’t, but that doesn’t mean Graham doesn’t deserve something.

And he knows that Graham wouldn’t have ever gotten a Father’s Day card and yes, it’s early… a good ten or so days early, but that doesn’t change the fact. Looking closely at the slightly better-looking tat, he’s at a loss of what to possibly get.

Drawn from his musings by his phone vibrating, he takes his eyes from the display and spends a moment to fish it out of his pocket, spotting that Yaz has dropped him a text.

“ _My gift is in the works, how are you getting on, Ryan?_ ”

Ryan looks back up at the Father’s Day display, chewing the inside of his mouth in indecision.

“Getting there,” answered Ryan, glancing back down at the phone and then pocketing it again and setting the basket down. He starts looking through the display, trying to find anything decent enough... but either way, whatever he picks, he just hopes that Graham will genuinely love it.

 

_The Doc's gift, or theft..._

 

 

The Doctor looks up, welding mask still across her face when the door to the TARDIS opens quite abruptly, feet moving against the grated floor in rhythm.

“Doctor, why did you steal Graham’s jacket?” asked Yaz.

The Doctor frowns through her mask, head tilting down to look at the jacket held in her hands. “I'm making it better for him.” She answered, now lifting the mask of her face and looking back up at Yaz.

“Better?”

The Doctor shrugs, eyes drifting down to the brown leather. “Adding a few components to it.”

Yaz raises her eyebrow. “He didn’t like the components that you added to the appliances into his kitchen, especially the kettle, I’m not so sure it’s a good idea to add-” She frowns again. “-What are you adding to his jacket?”

The Doctor smiles brightly, taking the helmet off in one swift motion and rushing over to Yaz. “Watch.” beamed the Doctor, putting the jacket on and then reaching a hand into an inside pocket. “I’m sure he’ll like this added bonus to it.”

Yaz watches as the Doctor pulls out something that really shouldn’t have been able to fit in a standard leather jacket from Earth. “You made it bigger on the inside?” Her eyes go wide with shock. “How?”

“Just a little bit of engineering, nothing too hard.”

Yaz shakes her head, a smile tugging at her lips. “You say that like you’re talking about fixing a plug, Doctor.”

The Doctor shrugs again, looking down at herself in it and tugging on Graham’s jacket. “Does a leather jacket suit me this time around?” The Doctor wondered aloud. “Not Graham’s of course, although it is a nice jacket, very comfy and roomy with great pockets now that I fixed them.”

“You’ll have to get one that properly fits you Doctor, but yeah, I think one does. We can pick one up for you if you want, after Graham’s birthday surprise.”

“I spose you’re right, Yaz, I’ll get one that fits this new body, my old stuff probably wouldn’t now.” The Doctor smiled, liking the idea already while her hands tug at the jacket and looking reasonably happy in it. “But I can wear it for the time being, make sure that the pockets are working correctly. Wouldn’t want to give it back to him and have him reach into a different dimension, he could pull out anything.”

Yaz deciding that that little tidbit of information is best left alone, else Graham will never want to wear the jacket again she moves onto a different subject. “Ryan should be here soon, the last I heard of him was ‘Getting there’ when I texted to see how his gift is coming along.”

The Doctor nods, now making her way back to the console to pack away the welding mask and other tools. “Did he tell you what it was?”

Yaz shakes her head. “No, all he said was that he hopes the meaning behind them will mean more than what they are.”

“And what about yours?”

Yaz smiles. “I spent a while in the shop cause I couldn’t decide and I worried about getting them processed due to the nature of the photos, but the woman who worked there was really helpful. I have a nice one that she picked out because it framed us perfectly or something, that’s what she said anyway. I’m meant to pick it up tomorrow.”

There’s a ping from the TARDIS console, causing the Doctor to frown and make her way over to the displays and see what’s wrong. “Graham is heading this way.”

Yaz swears under her breath. “Contact Ryan, tell him to enter Park Hill, the back way, Doctor, I’ll stall Graham.” The Doctor nods. Satisfied that she’ll warn Ryan, Yaz turns and heads outside, eyes darting around and hoping that Ryan won’t make a sudden appearance and that he’ll get the message in time.

“Yaz,” Graham called out to her. “You alright, love? Look like ya were caught doing something, got one of those faces on.”

Yaz turns to him and starts walking briskly over. “Hey Graham, I’m fine… you just caught me thinking about something.”

Graham gives her a pointed look and a curious glance. “Right,” His expression changes again. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

Yaz glances back at the TARDIS, face a mixture of worry before moving into his direct way and stopping him from walking. “Was just having a chat with the Doctor, what about you?” She knows she sounds so unconvincing. Ryan is going to be so annoyed if she lets their plan slip.

Graham gestures to the TARDIS. “I can’t find my jacket, was gonna ask the Doc if she saw it, cause she was round my house earlier touching everything, couldn’t keep her hands off anything. I swear she’s like a cat, always on the kitchen side or under your feet and you don’t wanna know how many times I had to tell her to leave the bathroom alone, cause she was saying something about making the shower work better.”

Yaz hums along with Graham, not really listening to his rambling reasonings. “Like, what? What was she doing?” Her goal is just stopping him from blowing their plans entirely out of the water at this moment in time.

Graham shrugs. “I don’t know, but I had to check if she did anything when I was satisfied she didn’t I headed back down to check on her again, and she was gone, and then I couldn’t find my jacket, so I thought I might have left it in the TARDIS, that’s why I’m going there now.”

Yaz nods along, hoping that Ryan got the Doctor’s message and that he’s not going to show up. “Have you looked properly in your house?”

Graham gives her a deadpan look. “Yaz, I’m old, not completely blind, of course, I did. Look, all I wanna do is ask the Doc if she saw it.” Graham steps around her. “That’s literally it.”

“It’s summer though, why do you want it?”

Graham stops, this time turning back round to face her. “Are you sure you’re alright, Yaz? Cause you’re acting like you don’t want me to go to the TARDIS.”

“No… no Graham, I’m just-”

“What is going on?”

“Nothing is going on,” Yaz said.

Graham narrows his eyes at her, glancing back at the TARDIS once. “You didn’t have an argument with the Doc, did ya love?” The tone in his voice is caring as he makes his way back over to her. “Cause you did seem a little bit out of it when you walked from the TARDIS, and you’re diverting me away from the TARDIS.”

Oh, she’s gonna hate this. “I, it was nothing Graham, we didn’t argue or anything.” She doesn't want to lie to him, but she has to if she wants to keep it all a secret.

“Nothin’?” Graham said, eyes scrutinising her. “You sure?”

Yaz nods, smiling at him. “I appreciate the care Graham, but the Doctor is just doing some repairs in the TARDIS, said something about how humans probably shouldn’t breathe it in, that’s all, and I was thinking about work.”

“Alright,” He looks over to the TARDIS again. “Did she say when she’ll be done?”

Yaz shrugs. “Probably tomorrow, what are you gonna do now?”

Graham returns his gaze to her. “Probably head back home, there’s a thing on Ryan’s video thingy that I want to watch, you’re welcome to come along if you want. Never know, you might like it.”

She considers his offer. If she says yes, then she can keep an eye on him all evening, but she won’t be available to help Ryan and the Doctor complete the final part of their ideas… or help them wrap Ryan’s gifts. Deciding that keeping an eye on Graham would probably be the best idea, she makes her decision.

“Alright Graham, lead on, just gonna drop a text to my mum, letting her know I’m round yours and Ryan’s.” Graham nods, turning away from the TARDIS and now heading back towards his home. She sighs in relief, fishing out her phone and quickly dropping both Ryan and the Doctor a text.

“Coast is clear, gonna go back to your house Ryan and keep an eye on Graham, sorry I won’t be there to help you two out.” She places her phone back into her pocket, looking up and spotting Graham walking ahead of her. She jogs after Graham only pauses to glance back at the TARDIS one final time.

 

 

Ryan enters the TARDIS, arms aching from the heavy bags and being made to enter Park Hill from the long way round, but with the Doctor’s frantic and nearly indecipherable text. It was only Yaz’ follow up that he finally understood.

“Doctor, you here?” Asked Ryan, closing the door behind and stretching his arms after placing the bags on the floor. He looks up when he hears movement, frowning instantly when he spots the Doctor wearing his grandad’s jacket. “Why are you wearing his jacket, Doctor?”

“I need to make sure it works correctly.”

That… answers nothing, Ryan thinks suddenly. Giving a shake of his head, he looks back at the bags, overfilled with anything grandad related he could find from all the pound stores and cheap card factories. “Yaz ain’t here to help us wrap all this, and I’m not good at it.”

“Wrapping?” The Doctor said, looking far too interested at the prospect. “I can help you, I'm a wrapping master!” She enthused.

“That would be great, Doctor.” Ryan thanked her. “I also got some banners and stuff, will it be okay to hang it in and around the TARDIS, Doctor?”

The Doctor turns to the central column, silent conversation clearly taking place between the ancient ship and her pilot. “She said it’s fine.”

“Well then, with Yaz keeping my gramps busy we better get started, cause I got a load of stuff, and-” Ryan turns, hands digging through the bags and pulling out a card. “I got you a card to write if you want to that is.”

The Doctor inclines her head to the side, accepting the card from Ryan. “A card?”

“Yeah, you write who it’s to and then finish it by writing your name,” Ryan looks away. “My nan used to always sign my name in the card she got him, and he knew I didn’t write, but he never said anything about it. I want to make it right for him.” He smiles a little brighter, hands reaching into the bags again. “I got you multicoloured pens to write yours, Doctor.”

The Doctor flashes a warm smile at him, excited by the birthday celebrations about to happen. “We’ll make it a great birthday for Graham, Ryan.”

“I know.”

The Doctor walks forward, Graham’s jacket still upon her. “Ryan, look at me.” She waits until he does. “You aren’t to blame for not celebrating it with him before, and he knows that.”

“Doesn’t stop me from feeling awful about it though, my nan, she tried so hard, and she never asked for much, cause a card hardly takes a lot of effort to write, and I still didn’t even bother.”

The Doctor face turns caring. “You’re doing it now though Ryan, that’s what counts.”

Ryan nods, taking what she said to heart. “He wasn’t a bad bloke to live with I just never wanted to trust him, cause my own dad ruined that for me, and I didn’t see at that time how marrying my nan gave him the automatic right to be called grandad.” He looks back up at the Doctor. “I got him something else as well, well two things but one of them is what I'm gonna show you now, but the other, I'm keeping a secret… I think he’ll be more moved by it."

The Doctor frowns, watching as Ryan turns back to the bags and pulls out a different card. “Here it is, I know for a fact that he would’ve never received one of these and you usually get them for your dad, but we ain’t there yet and well, Graham, he’s done a damn sight more for me in the months we’ve been travelling together than my dad has done in years.” He hands the card over to the Doctor, watching her face change as she reads it. “He deserves it this year.”

“Father’s Day,” The Doctor murmured to herself, a sad smile coming to her face, remembering her own children throughout the years and the gifts they got her. “He’ll love this, Ryan.”

Ryan nods again, eyes going back to the bags. “Come on, Doctor, we probably should wrap all this by tomorrow and not actually have him walk in with it half done.”

The Doctor nods, coming forward and handing the card carefully back over to him. “Let’s get a shift on then.”

* * *

 

 

“Morning, Ryan.” Graham greeted, walking into the kitchen, his eyes flicking to the calendar and then to Ryan. “Was there any post this morning?”

Ryan looks up from his cereal, unaware expression on his face. “Nah, were you looking for anything in particular?”

Graham shakes his head, he can’t help but feel the pang of hurt, but he has himself to blame for not reminding or mentioning it to Ryan, or the Doc and Yaz. “Nah, was just wondering is all.” The hurt grows, he partially hoped that Ryan would remember, but he can hardly bring it up now without making the lad or the others feel guilty.

“Alright, you getting any breakfast? Cause the Doc said she had a big day planned for us.”

“Uh… yeah,” Graham answered, thoughts drifting. He turns, grabbing some bread and pushing it into the toaster a little harder than necessary. He’s glad that Ryan can’t see his face right now as he closes his eyes, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Actually… I’m just gonna go for a walk, feeling a little bit… iffy.” He feels his voice hitch on the last note and swallows down the emotion again. “I’ll catch you in the TARDIS later.”

Graham turns away from the kitchen, not waiting for Ryan to respond and he’s glad that he’s ready to leave, minus the missing leather jacket of course that he’s sure he brought home with him. Either way he hardly wants Ryan asking why he’s being off at the moment, and why he suddenly has redness growing around his eyes.

Opening and closing the door, he feels the morning air fresh and chilling for a summer day, against his skin. He looks up the road to Park Hill, knowing it’s too early to head there yet and if he’s honest with himself, he hardly wants to speak to anyone at the moment, so he turns, heading in the other direction. Needing to clear his thoughts and put on a neutral face, so they don’t ask him what’s wrong when he finally catches back up with them all.

 

Ryan watches Graham go and swears out loud when the door shuts, harder than Graham ever does it usually. He pulls his phone out, bringing up Yaz’ number and phoning.

“ _Ryan, what’s up?_ ”

“I think we’ve screwed up Yaz, cause he’s hurt by my pretending not to remember, he never said anything, but he’s just left the house without saying anything else to me.”

“ _Crap, should we find him and explain?_ ”

Ryan runs a hand down his face. “I don’t know, he’ll be around to the TARDIS later, that much he said but I don’t want him wandering around Sheffield thinking that I forgot the day.”

There’s a pause over the phone and then a muffled noise. “ _Ryan, you haven’t forgotten the day, and when Graham sees it later, he’ll understand._ ” said the Doctor, in the same tone of voice as the previous night.

“It sucks though cause he’s gonna think that until he sees what we did.” said Ryan, eyes trained against the front door. “I’m coming round.”

 

Emotions in check, one hand in his jeans pocket and a neutral expression on his face, Graham makes his way to the TARDIS. The walk did him some good, and if he is honest with himself, he’s old enough that he shouldn't care about his birthday now.

Or that’s what he’s told himself, anything to convince himself that the hurt he’s feeling ain’t real or worth it. Steeling himself, he places a hand against the door, pushing gently and entering the time ship.

He frowns instantly, eyes darting around the darkened room. “Doc?” There’s no response, so he walks in further, cautious not to trip over the steps or to walk into a column. “Anyone?”

It’s in that moment that the lights come back on, blinding him for a second as three voices ring out through the console room. 

“Happy Birthday.”

He snaps his head up, eyes locking onto his friends and family and then going upwards when he spots the truly horrendous looking banner, that he’s pretty sure the Doc has added things to. “You didn’t forget.”

Ryan steps forward, a grin on his face. “Sorry for the bit earlier, but we wanted to surprise you.”

Graham swallows down, the lump in his throat, this time rising for an entirely different reason. He looks at Ryan, eyes wet. “You didn’t forget.” Without giving the lad a chance to object, Graham steps forward, arms wrapping around Ryan and clinging onto him tightly. After a second he releases him, eyes flicking to the Doc and Yaz.

“Did you two know?” He points to them, watching as they both nod. “You were round my house yesterday watching that show with me, and you knew, Yaz.”

Yaz smiles back at him. “Someone had to keep watch on you cause you nearly blew the entire thing, Graham.”

Graham stares at her, damp eyes widening. “You were stalling me!”

Yaz looks at him, with a butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth expression on her face. “You call it stalling, I call it distracting.”

“Then what were you doing, Doc, cause you were rushing around my house like a toddler on a sugar high.”

“We’ll get onto that.” The Doctor answered. “Come on, we’re heading to the living room.”

Yaz reaches a hand out to Graham and starts dragging him along. Graham flicks his eyes back to Ryan, trying to ask what is going on but frowning when he gives nothing away.

He turns back around again, a smile on his face when he spots that they have also decorated the entire living room. That soon fades when he feels a thin square like object pushed into his hands. “What’s this?” Graham asked, looking down at it.

Yaz rolls her eyes. “It’s your present.”

Graham looks up, breath catching in his throat. “You didn’t have to do that, honestly the fact that Ryan remembered, that was enough.”

“Nonsense, Graham, can’t have a birthday without gifts!” shouted the Doctor from the small table set up with biscuits. Graham watches as the Doctor shoves a bunch in her mouth. “IshouldknowcauseIvehadplenty.” She rambled in a garbled mess of words that he has a little trouble figuring out.

Shaking his head, he looks down at the gift-wrapped present. He heads over to the purple sofa they all got after the Doc said she wanted one and sits down.

“I know you’ll like it, Graham.” Yaz smiled, sitting on the chair opposite.

Graham looks down, hands gentle and careful as he opens it, spotting that it’s a frame. He turns it over, eyes locked onto the photo. Graham looks back up at Yaz, a genuine smile on his face. “It’s perfect, love,” There’s a moment of worry that flashes through him. “You didn’t spend much on it, did you? Cause I don’t want you spending your entire-”

“Graham, it’s fine, and money wasn’t an issue,” reassured Yaz. “It’s a gift, and you’ve helped me a lot on our travels, caring for me just as much as you do Ryan, it’s my pleasure.”

Graham nods, not trusting himself to speak for the moment.

“MY TURN!” yelled the Doctor, hands rubbing against her coat to get the crumbs off.

Graham carefully places Yaz’ gift to the side and focuses back on the Doctor, watching as she brings over a large package of glitter and colours. Knowing that he’s about to have the nightmare of finding glitter for the next three weeks, Graham carefully takes the package from the Doctor like it’s about to explode, killing them all in a glittery mess.

“Open it.”

Graham raises an eyebrow at her, mind wondering what she could’ve possibly got for him while he opens it, recognising it straight away. “My jacket.” He looks up at the Doctor, puzzlement on his face. “You got me… my jacket?”

The Doctor sighs, rolling her eyes as she comes forward and pulls Graham to his feet. “Put it on.” Graham obliges, lost completely now. “Now watch.”

Graham furrows his brows when the Doctor opens the jacket, hand disappearing into his inside pocket. “What are you-” He cuts himself off, eyes widening to saucers when she pulls out an entire packet of custard creams. “You made it bigger on the inside?”

The Doctor nods, grinning broadly. “And there’s a cooling system in place so you can store items that need refrigeration, careful with glasses though, they have a habit of spilling if you’re not careful.”

Graham stares back at her, dumbfounded. “You made it bigger on the inside, Doc.”

“DIdn’t realise humans lost their hearing when they reach the age of fifty-nine, Ryan.”

“Ta, insult me on my birthday, Doc.”

Ryan comes over next, carrying a bag. “It’s a bunch of little stuff from me, but I hope you like them, gramps.”

Graham accepts the gift, sitting back down again and going through the assortment of poorly wrapped items. “Want me to start anywhere in particular?” Ryan shrugs at him, taking a seat on the floor and watching as Graham chooses what to open first.

Many emotions are running through his head as he opens each gift, stopping on every single one and reading the message. “Grandad.” across them all. He can’t help the sob that escapes this time, eyes welling while staring at Ryan. “Thanks, son, honestly-” He stares back down at them all again. “Thank you all, cause the fact that you remembered would’ve been enough for this old fool here, but you all went out of your way to make it one to remember.”

“You’ve been there for all of us, gramps, least we can do for you… and that reminds me, you have cards.”

Graham looks up, accepting the cards. “Five?”

“And this,” said Ryan, handing over one final item.

Graham accepts that, setting it aside and going to open the card from the Doc, pulling a face when a mountain of glitter and confetti lands in his lap. He reads the front, turning it over and then looking at in wonder. “I… can’t read this, Doc.”

“You wouldn’t, it’s my written language, I translated your name into it.”

Graham nods, smiling back at the Doctor and moving onto Yaz’ and knowing it’s her straight away by the neat handwriting. He opens it, grinning at the front and then the message inside. “Cheers, Yaz.”

“You’re welcome, Graham.”

Ryan directs him in the order that he wants him to open the cards, his first which is a simple affair, the next that catches him off guard completely. “Father’s Day?”

Ryan nods. “You’ve done a lot more for me, and you deserve it, gramps.”

Graham honestly doesn’t know what to say, lost for words mainly. “The last card?”

“Just open it.”

Graham pulls a face, shrugging and opening it. Eyes staring at the front, as shaky hands open it.

_“To Graham,_

_“Now I know she ain’t here, but she once wrote in every card that was meant to be from me, the least I can do is do the same for her, so this is for her._

_Love, Grace.”_

“Open the gift.”

Graham places the card down without saying anything, hands shaking and fumbling the gift as he opens it, finding a small frog badge inside.

“I know she wasn’t here to get you something, so I did it for her.”

Graham doesn’t reply, eyes locked against the small metal badge. He knows they’re giving him the time he needs to process what Ryan just did for him, but he can’t help but glance up when he hears a choked noise, coming from the lad himself. He looks to all of them, seeing his own raw emotion reflected back.

Swallowing again, and bringing a hand up to rub at his eyes. “Thank you… wherever she is, she’s looking down on all of us right now, and smiling to herself.”

The Doctor smiles back, and he can see the look on her face. “That ain’t the only thing Graham, come on you lot, let's get a shift on and give him his final gift.”

“There’s more?”

The Doctor turns again. “How does the first time West Ham won the Galactic cup sound, Graham, they play it on a world with less gravity than Earth, which is kind of cheating when your players can jump higher than the other team-” She stares back, trailing off. “Not important at the moment, now come on, I got us the best seats and even some football shirts.”

Graham hangs back, letting the other leave first, eyes looking over everything in the room and then back to the badge in his hand. “He wrote his own card, Grace.”

“ _He did, love, knew he would eventually, just had to give him time, kept telling ya that._ ”

Graham smiles sadly to himself, placing the gift gently down with the others. “Yeah, he did, didn’t he.”


End file.
